


Secunda

by Lucky107



Series: Strange Blood [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Blind Character, Gen, Ghosts, Medium - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 19:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8070157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky107/pseuds/Lucky107
Summary: It doesn't just smell like death.  It tastes like it, too.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Secunda (Skyrim) - Mimi Page - 2013

"This place gives me the creeps," Elara complains only just after arriving in the Hjaalmarch swamp.  Farkas didn't say anything, didn't even tell her they were close, and yet somehow she knows.

Farkas moves slowly, trying to match her careful pace.  "You should see the place."

His young Breton companion laughs out loud, carefully feeling her way along the beaten trail.  When her hand comes out, searching for guidance, Farkas is quick to respond by offering her his arm.  He's come to admire how well she does on her own, despite his brother's initial concerns.

"I don't like it here," Elara concludes, her hold on his arm tightening.  "There's something in the air - it doesn't just smell like death.  It tastes like it, too."

\- - -

It would have been so easy to ignore their talk.

Elara and Farkas have no connection to Morthal outside of their mission to clear the cave in the north of any suspicious activity, to quell the restless minds of the locals.  That's all it would take and then they would be free to return to Whiterun, never to return to Hjaalmarch again.

But it isn't that easy because, despite herself, Elara listens to their talk and she's unable to block out their voices.  _The home was set ablaze.  His wife and child... everything, burned to the ground._

"I want to go to that house," Elara says, a tremble in her voice.  "Please."

Farkas doesn't argue, bypassing the Moorside Inn on the crudely-built boardwalk to the charred ruins of Hroggar's house.  If it's true that the man really did kill his family in that home to be with another woman, though, Farkas doesn't know what Elara hopes to find - except maybe peace of mind.

Within the ruins of the old home they find exactly what Farkas is expecting: the shell of a home, completely empty except the old stone fireplace.

"Who's there?"  At the sound of the small voice, Elara spooks.  "Oh, you're not my father."

When Farkas doesn't offer any indication of who the stranger might be, she asks, "W-who are you...?"

"I'm Helgi," the stranger says.  She's just a child, by the sound of her voice.  "I live here.  You're the first person I've seen since the fire - it's been awfully lonely here, all by myself.  Have you seen my father?"

"Your... father?"  This girl, Helgi, must be the child who died in the fire - or so they thought.  How in the world she's still alive, living in the remains of the home, without someone having noticed sooner is beyond the Breton.  "How about you come with us, Helgi, and we'll find your father?  He'll be so relieved—"

"Elara?"  Farkas asks, his voice calm, but stern.  "Who are you talking to?"


End file.
